Fly Me to the Moon
by Dr.GG
Summary: It's June 2021, days before Serena's 30th birthday. She and Blair are enjoying a long weekend in the Hamptons. Things happen, which cause Serena to recall major events from her life over the past nine years. A Nate and Serena story, featuring SB and a touch of CB.
1. Happy Birthday Nate

This is a future Nate & Serena fic (a couple that holds a soft spot in my heart), with a bit of Serena & Blair and a touch of Blair & Chuck included (because it wouldn't be a GG fic without them). Everything on Gossip Girl has happened through 5x24, but nothing from season 6 has occurred. I hope you enjoy.

I own nothing.

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday Nate

June 24th, 2021

"Blair, what about this one?" Serena asked as she held up the black Prada bag.

"No, not that one," shot Blair quickly. She then moved next to Serena and looked more closely at the bag. "You need one that is a little less boring. A crisp, fresh look. The Chloe bag I have in mind would be perfect."

"You're only saying that because you gave Prada a bad review in your most recent issue and you don't think you should be seen anywhere near it," bit back Serena with a smile. She really loved teasing Blair about fashion. It was so easy when Blair put her opinions out there for the world to see every month.

"That's not it at all. You know I love Prada, just not that bag." Blair ignored Serena's knowing look because her best friend was right, she wouldn't allow herself to be seen with a Prada bag until their new line was released – she had a reputation to protect! She then turned to look at another display, hoping to find another bag that would complement Serena's style. "Now look, this Miu Miu satchel is great."

Serena couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's diversion tactics. After being best friends for more than 25 years they knew each other so well. Sure they have had their ups and downs, but they will always love each other – they're sisters and nothing will ever change that.

"So, any big plans for your 30th birthday besides spending a few days in the Hamptons with your BFF?" probed Blair as she further perused the selection of handbags in the shop.

"Nothing big. My mom has arranged a family dinner at CeCe's place Saturday. But you already knew that seeing as you'll be there with my brother and my nephew. Anyways, I have to get back to the city for a meeting on Tuesday."

"Are you sure it can't wait another week?" Blair practically begged. "You know you're more than welcome to stay with us for as long as you want."

Even though she couldn't stay, Serena understood where Blair was coming from. In recent years their lives had become so busy that they didn't get to spend nearly as much time together as they once did. Days like this one, just the two of them walking around shopping, were rare. Still, it was better than when Serena lived in California for five years.

"Blair, you know it can't wait. This film is a big deal and securing the locations is really important. It's not easy filming throughout Manhattan."

"I know, I know, I know. Believe me, I understand," nodded Blair. "Scheduling shoots in the city is no walk in the park. Now please tell me that that delicious man of yours is at least whisking you off somewhere romantic. For at least a couple of nights."

At that moment the door to the boutique opened and in walked a familiar face. One that Serena wouldn't mind never having to see again in her lifetime. Serena looked up briefly and regrettably made eye contact with the woman.

"Shit," moaned Serena.

"What is it S?" asked Blair. She then glanced in the direction that Serena had been looking at and instantly knew what caused Serena's reaction. "Oh. What the hell is _she_ doing here?"

"Just ignore her Blair," Serena ordered as she took Blair by the arm and directed her back to the totes.

"Seriously, doesn't she know that she doesn't belong here?"

"Blair, it's a free world. If she wants to shop here we can't stop her," whispered Serena, wishing not to attract too much attention and hoping to hear the door close as a certain someone left. Sadly, she didn't hear the door. Instead she heard the sound of heels approaching from behind.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Serena and Blair. Blair and Serena."

Serena groaned, rolled her eyes, and then turned her attention in the direction of the unwelcomed voice. "Hello Ellen," answered Serena, digging her fingers into hands to maintain her poise and keep from punching the girl's lights out. She really did not like this woman.

"What do you want Ellen," demanded Blair, crossing her arms in front of her. "You do know that you can't buy class, even in the Hamptons, right?"

"Blair, stop," murmured Serena so that only Blair could hear her. "You're not helping things."

"I'm actually surprised to see the two of you out shopping. I thought _'Serena and Blair'_ were too busy and important to have time for such things," Ellen said condescendingly. "I mean, Blair, shouldn't you be at work telling anyone who will listen your insane idea of what's fashionable or at home watching your nanny raise your kid? And Serena, isn't it time for you to run away so that people will drop everything to chase after your precious ass?"

Both Serena and Blair stood there, jaws on the floor, because of Ellen's words. Quickly, Serena pulled herself together when she saw her friend starting to make her way towards the woman with curly light brown hair. Extending her arm to keep Blair from doing something she knew she would regret, Serena corralled Blair.

"All this time, I thought you were a real bitch Blair," retorted Serena with a smile. "But you've got nothing on this one. You're some piece of work Ellen."

"Oh, that's rich. You're calling me a bitch. I'm not the one who prances into people's engagement parties uninvited," snarled Ellen. "I will never understand what Nate sees in the two of you."

Then, a frustrated Ellen raised her left hand to her forehead and slowly pushed her hair behind her ear. To Serena it all happened in slow motion. She couldn't help but stare at the ring on Ellen's finger. It was huge. It was gaudy. And it brought back memories.

XOXOXOXOXO

_March 28__th__, 2014_

_Serena sat alone at the Gimlet bar, taking a few minutes for herself and nursing her martini. Around her the party was in full swing. There were lots of old friends that she hadn't seen in a while, as well as a few new faces that she didn't know. Everyone was there to celebrate Nate's 23__rd__ birthday. She had skipped her classes that morning and flown back to the city for the party. _

"_Serena," Nate called out. When he reached her (stumbling on his way over), Nate immediately threw his arms around her and held her in a warm embrace. Serena tightened her hold on him, inhaling his scent, and then she planted a kiss on his cheek as they separated._

"_Surprise!" sang Serena with her arms in the air. "Happy birthday Nate."_

"_Ahh, thanks," he blushed. Drunken Nate could be quite cute. "I'm so shocked that you're here. Did you really come back to Manhattan just for my party?" _

"_Well, it's not really a party unless Serena van der Woodsen is in attendance, now is it?" countered Serena with a flirtatious smile. "And I wanted to make sure that your party was a resounding success, so here I am! Besides, I missed you guys."_

"_We miss you too," and Nate wrapped his arm around the back of Serena's chair so they could get closer. "It's just not the same without you here S. Hurry up and finish at USC so you can move back home." _

_Home. That's what NYC was to Serena. But it was also toxic to her. She needed to get away, to find herself outside of all the drama that always surrounded her on the UES. So, after her blowup with Blair and her relapse in the Spring of 2012, she moved to Los Angeles and (after pulling in quite a few favors) enrolled in the Producers program at USC. She was now in her 5__th__ semester into the program and on track to finish a year from now, in the Spring of 2015. _

_Serena then leaned her head on Nate's shoulder before replying, "I'm trying Nate." Her voice was quiet and it was hard to hear with the noise of the party. "But you know why I had to go, right? I was a mess here." She never looked into his eyes even though she knew he was staring at her. She was scared of what she might see._

"_Hey," and Nate nudged her face so that she was now looking into his eyes. No judgment was found, just a familiar pair of soft and caring blue eyes. "You're fine now. In fact you're doing great. And we couldn't be happier for you." His voice held so much conviction in it that Serena couldn't help but believe him, even though she knew he had consumed more than his fair share of drinks that evening. _

_Besides, Serena knew it was true. She and Blair had made up and were as close as ever. She happily served as Blair's maid of honor when she married Chuck, and Blair regularly chartered the Bass jet so that she could visit Los Angeles or so that Serena could visit NYC. Lily was so proud to see her daughter taking charge of her life and fulfilling her potential. Serena and Eric skyped every other day to keep up with each other. Her relationship with her father was improving, and she and Lola were making an effort to get to know each other, although she doubted they would ever be real sisters. Serena even stayed in contact with Dan – he had been out to Los Angeles a couple of times to meet with people about developing his latest novel into a film. In all, Serena van der Woodsen was finally getting all her shit together. _

"_Thanks Nate," she said almost bashfully. In an effort to lighten the conversation, Serena decided to change the topic. She shook her head from side to side and continued, "So, how are things at Bass Industries? How's my brother treating you?"_

"_Work's fine. Chuck can be a real hard-ass to work for but overall its great," laughed Nate as he took another swig of his drink. "Hey, did I tell you that I got into Columbia Law School? I start in the Fall."_

"_Wow! Nate Archibald, a lawyer, who would have thought." Smiling and honestly proud of him, Serena raised her glass to Nate and exclaimed, "Congratulations!"_

_Nate met her glass in mid-air and the two clinked together. He looked so happy that Serena felt a tad bit guilty for not fully celebrating in all his joy._

_So with a fake smile plastered on her face, Serena spoke, "I guess I should also offer you congratulations on your engagement. I must say that I was not expecting that."_

"_You weren't?" Nate asked, confused. "Ellen and I have been dating for a year and half now, we've been living together since the new year. I figured it was time. I mean, Chuck and Blair have been married for over a year now."_

"_Well, not every couple are Chuck and Blair," countered Serena. _

"_Thank God for that. Don't get me wrong, I love them and they are perfect for each other, but you just never know what you are going to walk in on with those two!" joked Nate. Serena smiled but it soon fell flat, and Nate noticed. He misinterpreted her response and teased, "You're having a flashback, aren't you?"_

_Serena stared at her hands and simply shook her head from side to side. When she finally got up the courage, she spoke again, "You know, I always thought we would have another chance. We've been a part of each other's lives for so long. You're my Nate and I'm your Serena. Whenever I look into my future I always see you in it, I just never see you with a wife. At least one that isn't me. And now you're getting married. To someone else. To Ellen. It's not going to be you and me, raising our kids, along side Blair and Chuck. Damn Blair and her non-judging breakfast club," snorted Serena as she wiped the tear that threatened to fall from the corner of her eye. "I guess it's the end to a dream that I didn't realize I was holding onto." _

_Nate was floored. He didn't realize Serena felt that way – he didn't realize that they shared the same dream. Because for as long as he could remember, Nate had always wanted a future with Serena. He just didn't think it was a possibility so he moved on with his life. _

_When Nate finally gathered his wits about him he reached for Serena's hand and sighed, "Serena,"_

_Before he could continue, Serena bolted up from her seat. "I'm so sorry Nate. I shouldn't have said any of that. You're happy with Ellen, I can see that. Have another drink and forget everything I just said." With that, Serena signaled the bartender for another beer, kissed Nate gently on the cheek, and walked out of the party. She left for Los Angeles first thing in the morning. _

XOXOXOXOXO

June 24th, 2021

Serena was shaken from her memory when the salesman approached the three women and said, "Mrs. Archibald, I think I found the item you were asking about."

A/N: So, as of today the GG writers have not contacted me regarding my role on the show as Nate's endgame, so I had to keep my 'Nellen' dream alive in fanfiction!

I must thank Maryl and Dr. Holland (a big-time Derena fan) for looking this over and telling me I wasn't crazy. Also, I need to thank MaryScarlett for motivating me to write this fic without even intending to. This chapter is dedicated to her!


	2. Happy Birthday Serena

Thank you to all my readers – the response to this fic was better than I ever expected! Hopefully you'll all stick with me on this journey – I'm quite excited about it! And as requested, we have a bit more SB and CB in this chapter (I just can't get enough of them - guess who is going to feature in my next chapter for my other fic?).

Also, my fellow Serenate lovers, how about we give our boy Nate props for sacrificing his career-making story to help save Serena in Monday's episode?! Wonder if she'll ever know that sacrifice that he made for her?

Again, I don't own anything.

Chapter 2: Happy Birthday Serena

June 24th, 2021

"Mrs. Archibald, I think I found the item you were asking about."

The young man stopped abruptly at the scene he stumbled upon – three women in a silent stare-off. You could cut the tension with a knife. His eyes darted between the three of them, unsure of who would be the friendliest. Nervously, he cleared his throat and muttered, "Excuse me."

Blair looked up at the salesman, her best friend, and finally Ellen. Taking pity on the young man, she decided to come to his rescue. "Thomas, is it?" and he nodded wordlessly. Blair took a step in his direction, extended her arm to gently touch his elbow, and continued, "I was hoping that you could help me with a pair Brian Atwood sandals I was looking at earlier."

"Of course Mrs. Bass," he stuttered. "It would be my pleasure. I'm sure Mrs. Archibald can wait a few minutes."

When Thomas started walking towards the shoes, Blair quickly turned around so that she was face-to-face with Ellen. With a pointed glare that sent many people away in tears, Blair calmly spoke. "If you _ever_ speak to Serena or myself in the manner in which you just did, I will make sure that you are not welcome anywhere in Hamptons or the Upper East Side."

Noting the hatred dripping in Blair's voice, Serena softly touched her arm to try to calm her and whispered, "Blair," but Blair simply shook her head from side-to-side and pushed her away without even looking at her. Serena knew that meant to let her be, to not interfere. Watch out Ellen!

Blair then took a step closer to the woman and raised her finger, her voice laced with contempt as she threatened, "If I _ever_ hear you mention my son again I will make sure that you live to regret it. I will make sure that your husband knows exactly the type of person you really are. A conniving and manipulative bitch," Blair paused and let out a low, evil-sounding laugh as she took in Ellen's appearance from head to toe, "with absolutely no sense of style. I can see right through your desperate attempt to be accepted. From your Herve Leger dress that doesn't fit you properly, to your Jimmy Choo sandals from two years ago. It's pathetic really. Now if you'll excuse me I have better things to do with my time than speak to you."

Ellen shifted uneasily on her feet, as she tried to appear unaffected by Blair's words even though they obviously hit close to home.

Blair then directed her attention to Serena, "I'm going to look at those sandals. Are you coming?"

"I'll catch up to you in a minute. I just need to have a word with our dear Ellen here."

"Oh, this ought to be good," Ellen said sarcastically.

"OK, have fun." But before walking away, Blair leaned in close to Serena and uttered, "If you need me, I'll be just over there."

Serena shook her head and whispered back, "Don't worry about me. I've got this one."

Serena then turned her attention back to Ellen, who was standing there with her hand perched on her hip. "So, what do you have to say to me now Serena?"

"Since this seems to be taking a while to sink in, I'm going to spell it out for you," Serena replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I stopped running away a long time ago. I'm here to stay. There is nothing that you can do to change that."

"We'll see about that," taunted Ellen.

"I realize that you hate me, and believe me the feeling is mutual, but you need to leave my friends and family alone. Your stalker-like tendencies are tiresome."

"I don't know what you are talking about," Ellen pleaded ignorance.

"Oh, please," scoffed Serena. "Don't you dare try to act innocent with me. You know exactly who I'm talking about."

"You mean your precious _All-judging_ Breakfast Club," mocked Ellen.

"It's the _NON_-judging Breakfast Club," Serena corrected her. "Seriously, you need to let go of your petty jealousy. Nate, Blair, Chuck and myself have been the best of friends for most of our lives. Nothing, and no one, will ever change that."

Talking about her life-long friends made Serena think about the last time it was just the FOUR of them together.

XOXOXOXOXO

June 27th, 2014

Serena must have looked at her clock at least 10 times in the last 15 minutes. It was now 1pm and Blair still wasn't here. She was supposed to arrive at noon, and she had already texted Serena that her plane had landed, so she didn't understand what the hold-up was. Maybe it was traffic – LA was notorious for it. Still, it wasn't like Blair to be late. However, just as Serena was about to phone Blair, she heard her doorbell chime. Serena immediately jumped up from the sofa and dashed to the door. Upon opening the door, she was engulfed by a smaller pair of arms.

"Happy Birthday Serena!" Blair shouted as she tightened her grip on her best friend.

"Oh, B, I'm so excited that you're here. I've missed you," and she dropped her arms to look at her friend. That's when she noticed that she wasn't alone. "And thank you for bringing Chuck with you," a hint of a question in her voice as she moved to hug Chuck.

"Happy Birthday Sis," Chuck muttered in his signature husky voice.

That's when Serena saw him. Well, she couldn't exactly see him because he was standing by an enormous wall of balloons, but she knew it was him. They hadn't spoken since the night of his birthday party. Sure they had texted back and forth a few times, but they hadn't talked. Not about what Serena had said. She assumed he had forgotten their conversation because nothing had changed. He was still engaged, and from what Blair had told her, they were planning to get married the following Spring.

Serena's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her BFF's voice, "And Nate. Actually, that's why we're so late. Nate _insisted_ on stopping by some cheap florist to get you balloons."

"Hey, I'm right here!" chirped Nate as he wrestled from behind the balloons. "Well, now that the surprise is ruined, Happy Birthday Serena." Nate finally broke free from the balloons and moved forward to embrace Serena. She couldn't help but laugh as the two of them tried to navigate around the balloons for a hug.

"What's with all the balloons Nate?" chuckled Serena as she was bumped in the head by a couple of them as she moved to the side of Nate so that she could see him, Blair and Chuck.

"Twenty-three balloons to mark your 23nd birthday," Nate answered as if it made perfect sense.

"Obviously," replied Serena because it did make perfect sense to Serena. It was fun and it was so Nate. This was her Nate. No matter whom they were with, they would always have a connection. It was unbreakable.

"Well, come in and get comfy," Serena gestured to the main room of the beach house. When Nate entered the main room, all the balloons floated up and covered the ceiling.

"This is so crazy! I was only expecting B but this is such a great surprise. Still, I only picked up enough food for the two of us and we have spa reservations for tomorrow."

"Don't worry about the boys. They're going golfing or doing something equally manly tomorrow. As for food, there's always take-out so we'll be fine," Blair reassured Serena. "Besides, I thought it would be nice for the four of us to get together. The Non-judging Breakfast Club."

At this comment by Blair, Chuck couldn't help the smile that took over his face as he pretended to mock her by rolling his eyes. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder a little tighter and pulled her closer to him. Chuck then kissed her on the temple and whispered in Blair's ear, "Go ahead, perfect opportunity."

Both Nate and Serena were immune to these tiny shows of affection between their best friends by now, so they were unphased by the scene whereas many would still be shocked. It had gotten to the point that they would be surprised if they weren't all over each other.

Blair turned to look Chuck in the eyes and gently nodded, a silent communication between the two of them. She then turned back to Serena and Nate and nervously continued, "Also, I figured this would be the last time it would just be the four of us together. Soon we're going to have a new member in the group."

Serena gulped. She knew what Blair was implying and she knew that Blair dreaded Nate's upcoming nuptials almost as much as she did. So she stated what she assumed Blair was trying to say.

"Yeah, I know. Nate's getting married, so soon Ellen will be part of the bunch." Serena tried to keep the hurt from her voice. It's not like she and Nate had been even close to getting back together. It just felt like another opportunity at potential happiness that she just let pass her by.

"Actually," Chuck interrupted. "That's not who Blair was talking about."

Slowly Chuck moved his hand so that it was resting on Blair's abdomen and he gently started rubbing circles. Blair looked down and smiled. Then she brought her hand to join Chuck's in its place. That's when the other two in the room got a clue.

"Oh my God," Nate exclaimed. "You guys are having a baby!"

"Blair!" squealed Serena as she launched herself at her best friend.

As the two girls rocked and hugged and cried, Nate got up, extended his hand to Chuck, and pulled him into a manly hug.

"Well, that explains why Blair was feeling sick in the car. I knew there was nothing wrong with the eggs on the flight," joked Nate as he moved to embrace Blair while Serena squeezed her arms around her brother and continued to cry.

When Serena was recovered enough to talk, she started pestering the Basses with questions. "How far along are you?" "When are you due?" "Do you know if the baby is a boy or a girl?"

For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, the four friends lounged around Serena's beach house, shifting between the living room, the kitchen, and the back patio. They reminisced about the past and talked about the future. They indulged in birthday cake and laughed as Serena opened her birthday gifts. After take-out Thai for dinner (Blair had a craving for Panang curry), everyone settled on the couches in front of the TV to watch a movie - Nate actually suggested watching 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' to which the girls readily agreed. Chuck and Blair nestled together on one sofa, leaving Serena and Nate sitting together on the other. Sure, there was a cushy oversized chair available but neither Serena nor Nate made any effort to move from their positions on the couch.

About halfway through the movie, Blair had fallen asleep on Chuck's lap. Both the trip and the pregnancy had taken its toll on her and she was exhausted. He kindly excused the two of them and carried Blair bridal-style into their room for the night.

That left Nate and Serena alone in the living room. No one stirred as the movie continued to play. When the film ended neither was tired. In lieu of another movie, the two old friends decided to relocate to the patio for drinks. A walk on the beach followed more than a few glasses of champagne, after which Serena and Nate stumbled back into the living room. Nate had the brilliant idea to build a blanket fort while Serena got a container of ice cream for them to share. Burrowing inside the fort with Nate, Serena selected play all on the 'Arrested Development' DVD and the two of them laughed hysterically at the TV screen as they ate their Chubby Hubby ice cream.

An hour later, snuggled up in the pillows and blankets next to Nate, Serena could feel sleep starting to take over – the alcohol and the lateness of the hour having their effects. She rolled her head onto its side so that she could look at Nate, who was still watching the TV. In a hushed voice, Serena spoke. "You know, I'm going to miss this Nate. When you get married we're never going to have nights like this again."

Nate turned his head so that he could see Serena. "I'm not going anywhere Serena. I'll still be here," he said reassuringly.

"Yeah, but it won't be the same," sighed Serena, shaking her head. She then let out a big yawn and nuzzled her head in the pillow.

Nate finally got up the courage to approach the subject he'd been wanting to talk to Serena about but avoiding all night – her words to him at his birthday party. It's the reason he jumped at the chance to come to LA when Blair suggested it. He needed to talk to Serena and this way she wouldn't be able to dodge him.

"Serena," Nate started slowly but gained courage and momentum as he spoke. "Did you really mean what you said at my birthday party? About us getting another chance? About a future _us_? Because I would be lying if I said I don't think about it too. In fact, I love the idea of you and I raising our kids with Chuck and Blair, even though they have a head start on us." Nate chuckled at this because he really did think it would be so much fun to see their kids playing together like the four of them had. He then became more serious, "And I know this probably makes me a horrible person, but if you just gave me a sign that we could have a chance then I would end things with Ellen tomorrow. So what do you say S?"

Nothing. Nate's speech was met with silence. Nate couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing. So he gently prodded, "Serena?"

That's when he heard it - the unmistakable sound of Serena snoring. The girl was out like a light. All Nate could do was shake his head at that and say, "We just have the best timing, don't we Serena?" Then he settled in for sleep.

And that's how their best friends found them in the morning, asleep on the living room floor with a pile of pillows and blankets all around them.

The rest of the weekend flew by the fearless foursome. Saturday the girls spent a much-needed day at the spa, while the guys played a round of golf in Beverly Hills. Chuck kept it secret and didn't comment when Nate insisted on stopping by the UCLA campus to check out the law school on the way back to Serena's place. That night was a grand dinner out for the four old friends. And Sunday was a gloriously catered brunch before Blair, Nate, and Chuck had to leave to catch their plane back to the UES.

Needless to say, Nate and Serena never got another moment alone together that weekend.

XOXOXOXOXO

June 24th, 2021

Ellen's annoying voice jarred Serena from her memory.

"You honestly think I'm jealous of you?" scoffed Ellen. "I don't see anything that you have that I could possibly want."

A/N: Still no word from the GG writers and they're almost done filming. It's sad because I know that 'Nellen' could have been epic!

Many thanks to those of you who reviewed: SnowedUnderNJ, Nica, Maryl, Emily, Trosev, BikerChick101, jackyxoxo, and SNlove. Your words mean the world to me and encouraged me to write more!


	3. This Woman's Work

Again – so much love to all of those who are reading my story! You all are fantastic and urge me to keep going!

This chapter is dedicated to the amazing fellow baby-loving and zombie-free **Maryl**. It's an early birthday present for her, so I hope you like it Maryl (as well as everyone else).

And what can I say about the recent filming pics my fellow Serenate lovers – we'll always have fanfiction?! I know I'll always believe that Nate and Serena could be extremely happy if given the proper chance (I mean, weren't these two great in 6.02?!). With that, its time to continue the story…

Again, I don't own anything.

* * *

Chapter 3: This Woman's Work

* * *

June 24th, 2021

"You honestly think I'm jealous of you?" scoffed Ellen. "I don't see anything that you have that I could possibly want."

Serena just laughed. She couldn't even bring herself to reply because she knew it was like talking to a brick wall.

"What's so funny? Huh?"

"Nothing," groaned Serena as she shook her head. "Absolutely nothing at all. You're right, there is nothing that I have that you could possibly want. I just happen to have an amazing career, incredible friends, an even more wonderful family, and a man who loves me more than anything. Why would you want any of that?"

At that moment Blair walked up to the two women and interrupted, "You're still here Ellen. I thought you would have left long ago when you realized that no one wants you here." She then turned to Serena and asked, "Are you ready to go? I'd really like to get a coffee."

"Yeah, I'm finished," answered Serena. "Let's get out of here."

As Serena turned to leave, Ellen grabbed her arm. "Don't you walk away from me. We aren't finished here."

Serena forcefully ripped her arm from Ellen's grasp and chided, "Yes, we are. Stop following me and leave my family alone."

Ellen then snickered, "Your precious family. I wonder how long that's going to last. I mean look at you two. Serena, I think you may have spent too much time in the California sun. And Blair, your face, as well as some other bits of you, are looking a bit fuller these days. You've both reached that age when surgery becomes your best friend. Soon enough, you're going to find it harder and harder to keep those men of yours interested. But at least you'll have each other. Oh, and that little boy of yours Blair."

"Oh, please," Blair couldn't help but roll her eyes. "You're attempts at provoking us into a scene are useless. We're leaving. You're staying here. Maybe Thomas can help you with a pair of shoes since you obviously need it."

Blair motioned to leave and one of the store clerks held the door open. Once both Serena and Blair were out on the sidewalk, Serena released an extremely frustrated sounding scream. "ARGH! That woman drives me insane!"

"Ugh, I know. I get that she doesn't like you, but hasn't this gone on long enough."

"Seriously! I've actually tried to pinpoint what I did to make her hate me so much, but I can't. It was definitely before her and Nate's engagement party. I think it started around the time that my adorable nephew was born."

Both Blair and Serena shared a happy smile at the thought of the junior Bass and threw their arms around each other as they walked further down the street. Serena flashed back to the autumn of 2014.

XOXOXOXOXO

October 25th, 2014

It was Saturday night and Serena was on a date. Technically, this was her third date with Justin. Their first date was sharing a coffee together. The second was an afternoon at the movies, watching a film that Serena needed to see for class. This date, their third, was dinner out. Justin was in the Master's program at USC and had met Serena the previous Spring when he assisted one of her instructors. He was an attractive guy and Serena really enjoyed his company, although she already knew this wasn't going anywhere long-term.

Serena and Justin had finished their meals and were now enjoying their coffee and dessert, when her phone started ringing. Quickly, Serena silenced the ringer and ignored the call after seeing who it was. She went back to her conversation with Justin. Two minutes later her phone started ringing again. The same person, so Serena again ignored the call and put her phone back on the table.

"Someone obviously wants to talk to you," Justin joked.

"Its no one that can't wait until later. Now tell me again about meeting Robert Redford."

Then, as Justin was about to speak, Serena's phone chirped indicating that she had a text message. She turned her phone over to read it quickly.

'**Blair is in labour. Call me ASAP'**

"Oh My God!" Serena gasped as her hand covered her mouth. She then pushed back her chair and stood. "I'm sorry Justin, but I need to make a quick call."

"Is everything all right?" he asked as he stood, concern in his voice.

"I'm not sure," she said as she gathered her purse. "My best friend just went into labour but she isn't due for at least two more weeks. Sit, please. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Serena then walked out the front door of the restaurant and rapidly scrolled her contacts until she landed on an all-too-familiar name.

The intended answered before the first ring even finished.

"Serena! Thank God its you!" Nate sighed in relief. "Where have you been? I've been trying to call you forever!"

"Nevermind that Nate – what's happening with Blair and the baby? She's not due yet. Is everything okay?" Serena started pacing back and forth on the sidewalk. She was extremely worried and she needed answers.

"So far, everything is okay. Dorota and I are at the hospital with her. The doctor…"

"Wait, where's Chuck?" Serena quickly interrupted.

"That's the thing. He's stuck in Washington DC."

"WHAT!" shrieked Serena. She couldn't believe that Chuck would miss his baby's birth.

"I know!" Nate replied, shocked as well about the dilemma they were currently in. "He went down for a weekend of schmoozing with lobbyists and politicians. He immediately went to the airport when Blair realized what was happening but there has been some sort of security breach, so they aren't letting any planes leave the ground. "

"Shit," exhaled Serena.

"Exactly," agreed Nate. "As you can imagine, it's chaos right now. Chuck is doing everything he can think of; he's called in favors with some people in the government to see if they'll let him fly or at least leave the airport. He's got a chartered plane waiting in Baltimore, so his plan is to drive up there and then fly home. He should be able to make it in time – the doctor says Blair's got a while before the baby is coming."

"That's good. That's good," nodded Serena, even though no one could see her. "Blair doesn't need the extra stress."

"Oh, we haven't even told her about Chuck. She thinks he's on his way."

"That's probably for the best," and she sat down on a bench. "Well, tell Blair that I'll get on the first plane in the morning so I'll be there soon."

"You'll do better than that. Chuck got you a ticket on the red-eye at 10:30 tonight." Nate then glanced at his watch and did the quick math. "You should be able to make it if you leave for the airport now – the flight leaves in about an hour."

"But I haven't packed anything," Serena whined.

"Serena, you're getting on that flight," Nate insisted forcefully. "I need you here in case Chuck doesn't make it in time. You'll land at like 6 o'clock in the morning – there will be a driver waiting to bring you straight to the hospital."

"Wow, you guys really have thought of everything," she replied, in awe of their quick actions. Just then she heard a voice yelling in the background.

"Nate! Is that Chuck?! Where is the damn Basshole when you need him?"

"No, its not Chuck. It's Serena," he answered Blair and Serena could hear every word.

"Why didn't you tell me you were talking to S!" screeched Blair loud enough for Serena to hear. "Hand me the phone Archibald! NOW!"

"Mrs. Blair, you must be calm for the baby," Serena overheard Dorota arguing.

"I'll be fine if Blondie here will just let me talk to Serena. OUCH – ARRGGGHHH! Another contraction is starting."

"Deep breaths Blair." Serena could hear the trembling in Nate's voice as he coached Blair. Nate was now at Blair's side and Serena noted Nate and Dorota counting the seconds of the contraction. At that moment Serena realized she needed to get to the airport as soon as possible because she was not going to let Blair go through this without her, especially if there was a chance that Chuck wasn't going to make it.

The next thing Serena heard were the sounds of deep breaths at the other end of the phone and she realized that Blair has seized control of the device.

"Blair," Serena squealed excitedly. "Are you okay?"

"Serena," Blair gasped for breath. "I will be when I know you're on that flight!" A few seconds later Serena heard Blair start sniffling. She was tired and scared and emotional. "Please, Serena. I need you here. I know the doctor says everything is fine with the baby but isn't this too early? The baby isn't due until November 7th. I'm scared and Chuck isn't here yet. What if something bad happens like before?"

"Blair, everything is going to be fine," Serena tried to reassure her while wiping the tears that were now streaming down her face. "You know that your baby is far enough along that he or she can be born without complications. Plus, that baby is half Bass and half Waldorf and that's got to count for something."

"Serena..." Blair sobbed.

"I'm leaving for the airport as we speak," and Serena rose from the bench and made her way back into the restaurant. "Don't worry about a thing – I'll be there to see my beautiful and _healthy_ niece or nephew being born."

"Thank you," sighed Blair, relief flooded her speech.

"Hey, that's what sisters are for," and a smile lit up Serena's face thinking about Blair and what she was about to do. "I love you B and I'll be there in a few hours. I promise." She then hung up the phone and explained the situation to Justin. He helped her into a cab that brought her straight to LAX.

XOXO

About eleven hours later, at 10:52am on Sunday October 26th, 2014 precisely, Blair gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy with both Chuck and Serena by her side. Chuck made it to the hospital in the middle of the night while Blair was sleeping (the epidural really did the trick) and Serena arrived around 6:30 in the morning, so neither missed much. Nate and Dorota stayed the entire night with Blair, but Nate didn't think he could stomach the actual delivery so he waited outside the birthing suite.

"Nate!" Serena called out excitedly from Blair's hospital room. Jumping up and down giddily she cried, "He's here! He's here! It's a boy!"

Nate shot up from his seat in the waiting area and made his way over to Serena. She threw her arms around him and he hugged her back. It had been a long night for both of them.

"It's a boy?" he asked, relief flooded his system. Nate didn't realize how nervous he was for Blair and Chuck and their baby until that moment. "How's Blair? And Chuck? What's his name?"

"The nurses are just cleaning him up and then Blair and the baby are going to move up to her room. She and Chuck want us to meet them up there, so come on." Serena grabbed Nate's hand and led him to what was going to be Blair's hospital room for the duration of her stay.

Serena and Nate sat down on the sofa in what was to be Blair's hospital room. Nate wrapped his arm around Serena's shoulders and she leaned into his frame.

"Blair was absolutely amazing," Serena uttered into Nate's chest. Then she looked up into his eyes. "You should have seen her Nate. She just kept pushing and pushing, even though I know she must have been exhausted. And Chuck, at one point I thought he was going to push the doctor out of the way and pull the baby out himself just so that he could help Blair."

"Ha-ha," chuckled Nate. "I'm just forever grateful that both you and Chuck were able to make it before the tough part started. I don't know if I could have handled that."

"Nate, you were incredible with Blair," she assured him. "She said you were a rock."

"Funny that she called me a rock because she spent a lot of the time yelling at me and telling me how useless I was."

"She didn't mean it Nate. She was in labour," Serena countered.

"I know – at least that's what I kept telling myself that. Plus, I knew that Chuck was depending on me. It was killing him that he wasn't there the whole time. I swear he was calling every 15-20 minutes to check on Blair and the baby."

"Aww, Uncle Nate was taking his new job very seriously," Serena kidded. Nate blushed at this comment and playfully elbowed Serena.

"Oh come on Nate, it's not a bad thing," Serena defended. Then she asked the question that had been on her mind since the previous evening. "Why were you of all people with Blair when this happened?"

"Chuck asked me to stay with Blair for the weekend while he went out of town. It seems that being 38 weeks pregnant wasn't slowing Blair down a bit and Chuck was nervous she would do too much."

"I'm guessing he never anticipated that she would do this!"

"Neither did I or I don't know if I would have agreed to it," Nate laughed. "For the longest time she was adamant that it was false labour and she wouldn't let me call Chuck or the doctor. Finally, Dorota and I convinced her to let us take her to the hospital. We argued that if it was false labour they would just send her home. Instead, they checked her in. She flipped!"

"Oh I can imagine it was not a pretty sight," added Serena.

"At first she told the doctor that he was wrong, because her baby was not due for two more weeks and all first time babies were late. I think she debated whether she was really in labour for at least two hours," Nate started shaking his head as he recounted Blair's crazy antics. "I suspect that she would have walked out of the hospital except for the fact that she was in a hospital gown. Dorota knows Blair really well; she hid Blair's clothes so that she couldn't leave!"

"No she didn't" gasped Serena. "Wait a second, are you telling me that Blair Waldorf, fashionista extraordinaire, was wearing a run-of-the-mill hospital gown?"

"Uh huh! Look, I got a picture!" and Nate pulled out his phone to show Serena the shots he took of Blair during this whole experience. He even had a few videos.

"You realize the blackmail material you have, right?" Serena joked. "Seriously, I can't believe that Blair let you take these," and she grabbed Nate's phone to scroll through all of them.

"Well, I may have told her that Chuck asked me too. She doesn't need to know the truth." With that Nate gave Serena a cautious look.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Just then, the door to the room opened. Chuck was pushing Blair in her wheelchair while she was carrying their baby boy wrapped in sky blue blanket with a matching hat on his head. The new parents were glowing, their smiles so big that they took up their entire faces and there was only the tiniest evidence that they had been crying. Looking at them, you wouldn't believe how little sleep they had gotten or that Blair had just given birth.

Nate and Serena both jumped up when they entered so that they could greet them. Nate, who had yet to see Chuck, Blair, or the baby since the birth, practically ran to meet them.

Very proudly, Chuck spoke, "May I introduce to you our son, Victor Charles Bass. He was born at exactly 10:52am, and he is 21 inches long and weighs a healthy 8 pounds and 3 ounces."

"Wow!" Nate was astonished. He leaned in to see the baby boy and he was surprised at how small yet how big he was. "I can't believe he was inside of you all this time Blair. He's perfect."

"What exactly are you saying Archibald?" Blair snapped. She really did look amazing for someone who had been in labour for almost 24 hours, someone who had just spent the last hour pushing this precious child from her womb. "That we couldn't possibly have a such a gorgeous baby?"

"No, no, no! That's not what I meant at all," he reasoned. "He just seems so big and small at the same time. He really is the most perfect baby I've ever seen. Congratulations." Nate then hugged Blair and when the two separated they heard Serena sniffling. Once there was enough distance between Nate and baby Victor, Serena shoved Nate out of the way so that she could hug Blair and coo all over the baby.

Nate made his way over to Chuck and the two best friends shared a hug. Chuck whispered, "Thank you for everything Nathaniel," and Nate replied with "Anytime man."

XOXO

After spending a couple of hours with the new parents and baby Bass, Nate and Serena excused themselves when it came time for Blair to try to feed the baby. Nate offered to let Serena come back to his place to freshen up and have a bite to eat, before they returned to the hospital. At Nate's apartment, he showed Serena where the guest room and shower were and then he went and showered himself. When he finished he threw on a t-shirt and sweats and called in for some Chinese. Nate was sitting on the sofa watching football when Serena came into the room.

"Uhm, Nate. Do you happen to have anything I can wear?" Serena nervously asked before continuing. "Dorota has some clothes for me but they are at Blair and Chuck's house and I don't feel like putting my dress back on. I've been wearing it for almost 24 hours straight."

Nate couldn't stop staring. This was a sight he hadn't seen since his freshman year at Columbia. Serena van der Woodsen was standing in his living room wearing only a towel. Her hair was still wet and she was make-up free, but to Nate she was as beautiful as ever. It took him at least a minute or so to register that Serena was even talking.

"Suuurrre," Nate slowly drawled. Realizing that he probably looked like a blubbering idiot, he bounced up from the sofa to get Serena some spare clothes. "Let me see what I've got."

"Oh, I don't need anything special. Just a t-shirt and boxers will be fine," and she followed Nate down the hallway.

"Give me a minute. I'll bring them to you."

"Thanks Nate," chimed Serena as she continued to the guest room.

A little while later, Nate and Serena were sprawled out on the couch, the empty cartons of Chinese food discarded on the coffee table in front of them. Football was still on the TV, but neither was paying it any attention. They were still reliving the past 24 hours.

"I can't believe how much hair Victor has," marveled Serena. She was still completely over the moon about how incredible Blair was during the delivery and how amazing her nephew is. There was a new love in Serena's life and his name was Victor Bass.

"Well, you've seen his father, right? Chuck isn't exactly hairless."

"Eww," Serena whined. "The images floating through my head right now."

Nate laughed at Serena's scrunched up face and gently smacked her arm. "Get you head out of the gutter Serena. We're godparents now. We need to clean up our acts."

"I know. And I know what you meant about Chuck." Serena then tried to hide the yawn that escaped her. She was so tired. "I can't help but think about our kids – what they'll look like."

"Our kids?" Nate suddenly perked up from his sleepy state.

"Oh, Nate, you know what I mean," and she playfully kicked him with her foot. "I mean my kids, if I ever have them, and yours. Can you picture them?"

"Sure." Of course all Nate could think about now were the children that he and Serena would have together. They would be beautiful – with bright blue eyes, blonde locks, and smiles that would light up rooms.

"What would you name them?" Serena asked, not realizing that Nate was off in his own world.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nevermind," Serena shrugged off his question. "You're exhausted and I was just being silly anyways."

Serena then curled her legs up under her and leaned into Nate's warm and muscular chest. It took Nate a second to adjust, but when he did he draped his arm around Serena and rested his head against the corner of the sofa. It felt so natural for the both of them.

"You know," Serena interrupted the silence with a whisper. "Victor is adorable, but _we_ would have the most gorgeous babies. Your beautiful blue eyes..."

"And your smile," Nate interjected. Then he tentatively continued, "I would want them to have your smile."

"I can imagine a boy and a girl," Serena added.

"Me too."

She could envision a young boy, tall for his age, with short blonde hair and blue eyes throwing a baseball with his father. "For a boy, I like simple and traditional names; maybe Nicholas or Benjamin or Samuel."

"I like those," and Nate began rubbing his hand up and down Serena's arm. "Just as long as we don't name him William – too many Williams in my family."

Serena then curled a bit more into Nate's torso and wrapped her arm him. She was enjoying the heat coming from his body. She then pondered aloud, "I wonder what our little girl would be named?"

Nate let out a low laugh that Serena felt it through his whole body before replying. "You're going to think I'm crazy,"

"Never," Serena quickly muttered while shaking her head side-to-side.

"Well, she could be named after the Simon & Garfunkel song," Nate chuckled and then tightened his grip on Serena, kind of like hug from their position. He then continued more softly, "And you of course. Cecilia. Or the other name I've always liked for a little blonde mini-Serena is Rosamond – we would call her Rose for short."

"Ahh," Serena yawned and stretched to get more comfortable. Her eyes began to close as she mumbled, "I can picture them – Rose and Nick Archibald – running around our Hamptons lawn in the summer."

"Yeah," Nate sighed as drowsiness began to take him over. In a barely coherent voice he let out a low, "Me too. Me too."

This was the scene that Ellen walked in on when she returned from the weekend at her sister's. Serena had her head on Nate's lap, while he had his arm around her. Serena's hair was still slightly damp and all she had on was one of Nate's Columbia Law School t-shirts and some black cotton boxer shorts. Nate was still in his lounge-around-the-house clothes. And both of them were sound asleep. After taking in the setting, a shocked Ellen backpedaled her way out of the apartment.

XOXO

_RING RING RING_

"What the fuuuckkk," yawned Nate. He fumbled with his phone before answering it, which unfortunately woke Serena as well.

"Helllooo."

….

"Yeah, Serena is here with me. We must have dozed off."

….

"I think I can speak for her and say of course we're coming back to the hospital."

….

"Sure. No problem. I think Serena needs to stop by your place anyways so we can grab it for you."

….

"Okay. See ya soon man. Bye."

While Nate was talking to Chuck on the phone, Serena got up and gathered her things from the guest room. She changed into a very loose pair of Nate's sweatpants and returned to the living room.

"That was Chuck. He wants me to pick up a clean set of clothes for himself when we run by their house."

"I guess that Blair didn't pack anything for him in her hospital bag, huh? I'm surprised he didn't have his own bag packed," Serena teased.

"He did! That's exactly what he wants me to get." Nate then tossed his phone aside and turned off the TV.

"Only Chuck and Blair would need separate hospital bags."

"Yeah, I know," he laughed because it was true – most couples would pack lightly and jointly. "I'm going to throw on some clothes, then we'll be able to head out. Oh," Nate suddenly remembered something important. "Don't let me forget the cigars. Even if we can't smoke them I think Chuck will appreciate the gesture."

"Got it. Cigars," Serena nodded. "Chuck's going to love it!" She then called out to Nate, "You've got one for me too, right?"

"Of course!" Nate agreed as he rejoined Serena, now wearing a pair of jeans and clean t-shirt. "Hell, Blair can have one too if she wants. She deserves it after what she went through." The two proceeded out of the apartment.

"Ooh, Nate," and Serena starting tugging on Nate's arm. "We should stop by Laduree and get Blair some macarons!"

"Good idea, Serena. Do you think we can get some blue ones?"

The two friends strolled through the lobby of the apartment building, arms linked, and chatting away. They were completely consumed with each other, which would probably explain why neither spotted the young woman hiding around the corner listening to every word they were saying.

XOXO

Serena would find out years later that it was that Sunday night, when Nate returned to his apartment from the hospital to find Ellen home and already asleep, that Nate started filling out his transfer application for UCLA Law School.

XOXOXOXOXO

June 24th, 2021

"Well, I think you should get a restraining order against her. I swear she is stalking you!"

"Believe me, I've thought about," and Serena's face turned somber. "I could just never do that to Nate."

"I have to wonder what Nate was smoking when he met her," Blair joked and looked at Serena, who simply shrugged her shoulders in response. Then both girls burst into a fit of laughter.

* * *

A/N: Alas, filming has wrapped and GG will continue to be 'Nellen' free! Those writers don't know what they've missed out on.

Many thanks to those of you who reviewed: Emily, maryl, BikerChick101, ericaalynn, Trosev, Dr. Holland, and SnowedUnderNJ, as well as those who favorited and followed. You keep encouraging me to write more!


	4. I See You

Lots of love to all of those who continue to read my story! You keep me going! Even with the way things are looking on our screens, I still love our Serenate. Damn it, they deserved a better chance.

Warning – this chapter does contain a semi-smutty scene but I hope you stick with me.

Again, I don't own anything.

* * *

Chapter 4: I See You

* * *

June 24th, 2021

"So where to now Blair? More shopping?" Serena asked as the two best friends continued arm and arm down the sidewalk, shopping bags in hand.

"Actually, let's take a break and get a drink at the café up the block," Blair gestured to a restaurant across the street. "Give us a chance to relax and gossip." She was actually feeling a bit tired and she really did want to spend some time gossiping with her BFF.

"Sounds great to me. As long as Ellen doesn't show up, that is." Serena was half joking and half serious. She knew from past experience that it was entirely possible that they would bump into _that _woman again. The Hamptons could be a very small place sometimes.

"Oh, don't worry about her," and Blair just swatted the air with her hand like it was no big deal. "She can't be so pathetic that she would follow us into another place."

Serena stopped walking and said nothing; she just raised her brow in response.

This caused Blair to stop walking as well.

"She wouldn't?" she deadpanned.

"Uhm, Blair, in case you haven't noticed, that woman shows up everywhere I turn. There is something seriously wrong with her!"

"Well, I've known that for a while now," scoffed Blair who resumed walking down the street. "I find it ridiculous that someone who is supposedly so happily married keeps obsessing about you."

"Tell me about it," sighed Serena as she kept pace with Blair.

"I mean, you and Nate have been in each other's lives since we were little kids. Did she think you were just going to vanish from Nate's life?"

Serena couldn't help but laugh. "Who knows what she is thinking sometimes."

"Yeah," agreed Blair. "I can't believe the psycho bitch is still married."

"Usually she manages to flaunt her ring in my face. You know, to prove a point," and Serena swung her hand in front of Blair's face, parodying Ellen.

Blair corrected her, "Don't you mean her _heirloom_ ring?"

"Oh yes, how could I forget," mocked Serena. "It's a family _heirloom_."

Thinking about Ellen wearing a family heirloom ring on her finger made Serena flashback to the first time she saw Ellen wearing the infamous Vanderbilt ring.

XOXOXOXOXO

December 27th, 2014

This year, Serena had elected to spend all three weeks of her semester break back home, partly because she missed her family and partly because couldn't get enough of her godson Victor. She originally thought about staying with the Basses, but reconsidered when she found out the Waldorfs and Roses would be staying there at least part of the time. It ended up working out for the best because Serena still saw plenty of Victor and Blair, but she also got to spend some quality time with Eric, something she hadn't done in quite awhile.

That was how Serena ended up here, sitting on the floor in her mother's penthouse, playing a game of Scrabble with Eric, Dan, and Jenny. After briefly reconciling with Bart in the Spring of 2012, Lily realized that her heart truly did lie with Rufus and the two of them found their way back together by December of 2012. This meant that holidays were now often shared with Dan and Jenny, and this was fine with Serena. She and Dan had re-established their friendship and talked every now and then, and while she and Jenny would never be sisters, they had put the past behind them and had learned to be cordial with each other. It helped that Eric was always around when the two of them were visiting at the same time; he maintained the peace.

Dan was currently living in Philadelphia, teaching English Literature for 'Teach for America' while still pursuing his writing dream. His second novel, the expose "Inside Out", never found a publisher willing to take a chance on it, which Dan now sees as a blessing in disguise. He would have alienated his friends and been pigeonholed as a writer. Currently, Dan was back to writing fiction and even close to finishing up his third book.

Just as Dan was about to gloat about getting a score of 42 for the word 'flummox', the butler approached the group carrying a garment bag.

"Mr. Humphrey, your suit is clean," and he offered the bag to Dan.

"Oh, thanks," replied Dan as stood from his seat and took the bag.

The other three sat there, a little surprised, because Dan wasn't exactly the suit kind of guy.

"Hot date tonight?" Serena teased. "Won't Liz get jealous?"

"HaHa Serena. Very funny," Dan joked and he then laid the suit over the back of his chair. "It's for Nate and Ellen's engagement party tonight. Liz knows all about it. She was supposed to be my date, but she bailed on me."

"Even she's embarrassed to be seen out in public with you," cracked Jenny.

"At least he cut his hair. He's somewhat presentable now," jibed Eric.

As Jenny and Eric continued to rip on Dan, Serena was oddly quiet. She couldn't believe that Dan was invited to Nate and Ellen's engagement party and she wasn't. She assumed it was primarily a family event. She understood that Chuck and Blair being invited; Chuck was going to be Nate's best man. But Dan wasn't in the wedding party and Nate and Dan weren't even as close as they used to be. Meanwhile, she and Nate had been friends since they were children. They still talked, okay texted and emailed, all the time. Serena could feel her eyes starting to tear up. She was hurt and couldn't wrap her head around why she'd been selectively excluded from the party. Suddenly, she heard Dan address her.

"Hello Serena! Earth to Serena," and he waved his hand in front of her face, effectively bringing her out of her trance.

"Huh, sorry. I was trying to figure out my next move on the board," Serena recovered. "What were you saying?"

"I was suggesting that we go to the party together."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea." She didn't want to admit to them that she hadn't been invited, so she came up with a quick excuse. "I don't want to create any tension between you and Liz."

"Liz won't mind at all. She's not the jealous type." Jenny and Eric nodded in agreement as they had both gotten to know Liz over the past year while Serena had yet to meet Dan's current girlfriend.

"Oh," mumbled Serena as she realized she was out of excuses.

"So it's decided. We'll go together," insisted Dan. "Dinner is being served at 8pm, so I was thinking of leaving here around 7:15pm. That way I don't have to spend an hour making small talk with people I don't really know. Does that sound okay with you?"

"Uhm, sure," Serena reluctantly agreed when she couldn't think of a way out of attending with Dan. "That sounds great."

In the back of her mind, Serena was already dreading going to Nate's engagement party. There was something about toasting Nate and Ellen as a couple and their impending nuptials that didn't sit well with her. She didn't know if it was jealousy that Nate was getting married, leaving her as the lone single person in their original group of four, or if she was jealous for another reason. Jealous that Ellen was going to have a future with Nate and she wasn't.

Serena shook her head from side-to-side to clear her mind. She needed a distraction. And since when did shopping not work for that.

"If you guys will excuse me, I just remembered seeing a clutch at Bendel's that would go perfect with my dress for tonight."

As soon as Serena was out of the earshot of the others, she whipped out her phone and called Blair.

"Blair! I have a serious fashion emergency! Can you meet me at Bergdorf's?"

Hell, if Serena was going to crash this party, she was going to do it looking her best!

XOXOXO

That evening, at 7:30pm, Serena and Dan entered the lobby of the Carlyle Hotel. Serena was overcome with the sudden urge to turn around and run. She had been telling herself all afternoon that it was simply an oversight that she had not been invited to the party and that surely Nate would not object to having her there.

But now she wasn't so sure.

Dan must have sensed her uneasiness, because he nudged her and whispered, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Serena reassured him. "I was just trying to see Blair and Chuck. You know, find some friendly faces in this crowd of people."

"Friendly? Chuck and Blair?" Dan asked sarcastically. "Are you serious?"

"Come on," rebuffed Serena as she rolled her eyes. "You guys all get along now. I believe you even had a civil conversation with them on Christmas Eve."

"Yes," Dan recollected. "Blair commented that my recent piece in the New Yorker wasn't half bad and I think Chuck may have even wished me a Merry Christmas. Becoming parents has definitely softened them."

"Look, there they are," Serena ignored Dan's insult and pointed to the bar at the side of the room. "Let's go join them."

"Ooh, I can't wait," and Dan reluctantly followed Serena across the room to meet up with Blair and Chuck, as well as some of their former classmates from St. Jude's.

As Serena settled into conversation with her best friend, her brother, and her stepbrother, she started to relax and feel more comfortable with being at the party. That was until she looked around the room at one point while Dan was going on about an exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and locked eyes with Ellen. Her face was hard and cold, without even a hint of happiness on it. Serena began to realize that maybe it wasn't a mistake that she wasn't invited. Maybe that's what Ellen had intended.

An anxious feeling took over Serena in that moment. She didn't want to ruin Nate's night, so she decided that she would check with him, make sure that he was fine with her being here tonight. So she scanned the room for the future groom and witnessed him being dragged from the room by Ellen. Serena peered into the hallway and saw them go into a room alone, with Ellen shutting the door behind them. Serena hated the idea that Ellen was upset with Nate for her being there, and she was determined to apologize and make things right between the couple.

Meanwhile, Ellen closed the door after she and Nate had entered the small meeting room.

"Ellen, what's going on?" Nate asked, confused. "What do we need to talk about that couldn't wait until after the party?"

Biting her bottom lip, Ellen coyly brought her eyes up to Nate's. Slowly, she stepped closer to Nate, took his face in her hands, and brought her lips to his. As they kissed, Ellen slipped her tongue into Nate's mouth, an action that he readily reciprocated, and they began to explore each other even more with their hands.

After a minute or so, Nate broke free. Breathless, he murmured, "We really should be getting back. We've got a room full of guests and dinner is about to be served."

"Sshh," and Ellen placed her finger on Nate's mouth to silence him. She then seductively whispered in Nate's ear, "Nobody is going to notice if we disappear for five minutes."

"But Ellen," Nate started to argue, however he noticed that she was positioning herself to kneel in front of him so he went silent. Shocked, he struggled with his words. "Ellen, what are you doing?"

"Reminding you of one of the many things you love about me," and she confidently made short work of Nate's belt, his zipper, and his boxers, until she held his cock in her hand. Within seconds, she had taken him into her mouth and began to simultaneously suck and use her tongue in a way that she knew drove Nate crazy.

Nate was gone. Lost in a land of ecstasy. He shut his eyes and let the sensation of Ellen's magic mouth take over his body. He leaned forward and used the wall to support himself while all thoughts of propriety left his mind. He couldn't think of anything in that moment except for how good it felt when Ellen sucked him off.

"Fuck, Ellen, that feels really good." He then put his hand on her head to encourage her.

At feeling Nate's hand in her hair, Ellen stopped what she was doing and released him.

"Don't mess up my hair," she snapped.

Nate didn't even think about arguing because honestly, he didn't care. He just wanted Ellen to continue with her impromptu blowjob. So he put both of his hands against the wall and Ellen went back to worshipping Nate with her mouth. He continued to moan and groan expletives while Ellen cupped his balls in her hand and took him further in so that the tip of his dick was hitting the back of her throat. Nate felt a growing urgency take over, one he knew very well.

"God, I'm almost there. Don't stop," Nate said through panted breaths. Suddenly, he felt all the blood in his body rush south and he started bucking into Ellen's eager mouth.

"Yes, yes," Nate gasped, euphoria flowing from his body. At that moment he opened his eyes and found himself staring into Serena's beautiful blue eyes. Shocked, he choked out "Serena," as she fled from the room.

"What did you just call me?" a livid Ellen screamed as she wiped the side of her mouth with the back of her hand. She bolted up and angrily began swatting at her dress so remove any creases that may have formed when she was on her knees.

Nate reached out for her arm, "Ellen, no, you don't understand."

Ellen jerked her arm away from Nate, not wanting him to touch her at all.

"Oh, I think I understand perfectly. You were fantasizing about your ex-girlfriend while I'm getting you off in the middle of _OUR_ engagement party!"

Ellen pulled out her compact, reapplied her lipstick, and gave herself a once over. While she was doing this, Nate rapidly pulled up his pants and fixed his shirt and tie.

"You've got this all wrong Ellen. The only reason I said Serena's name was because she was standing in the door while we were, you know," he trailed off as blush started to cover his face.

"Wait, you're telling me that Serena was watching us?" Nate just nodded. Ellen was appalled. First she shows up to the party uninvited and then she had the audacity to watch as she pleasured _her_ fiancé. She felt the anger rising inside of her with each passing second.

"For how long?" Ellen demanded as she threw her compact back into her clutch.

"What?" a confused Nate asked.

"How long was Serena standing there watching us?" Ellen was clearly frustrated with Nate's answer as well as his calmness over the entire situation. "Oh, you know what. Forget it. I'm just going to give that little voyeur a piece of my mind."

Ellen then stormed from the room with Nate trailing closely behind her. He didn't really want to see Ellen and Serena come to blows over this. He needed to keep them both calm and at peace. They easily found Serena talking with Dan and one of Nate's former lacrosse buddies.

Ellen rudely interrupted their conversation, "Excuse me Serena, we would like to have a word with you."

Serena was having a difficult time looking at Ellen and Nate. When she looked at Nate, she kept picturing his face just as he was about cum; that look of satisfaction. And Ellen. Well Serena couldn't even make eye contact with her. She also avoided looking at Ellen's mouth because she knew where it had been less than five minutes earlier. That's when she saw the Vanderbilt ring on Ellen's finger and she decided to focus on that while she regained her wits.

"Can't it wait?" Serena was embarrassed, annoyed, and desperately trying to avoid being alone with the two of them. "I'm in the middle of a conversation here."

"It's just that I don't remember seeing your name on the guest list and we have a set number of seats for dinner."

At that moment, Dan piped up, "She's my plus one."

"You came to my engagement party with Dan?" Nate reeled. "Isn't that story over with yet?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that man," Dan replied defensively. "Liz couldn't make it, so I told Serena we should come together."

"So, Serena had been planning to crash all along," fumed Ellen as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"What?" retorted Serena. Then she finally clued in to what Ellen was insinuating. "Actually, no. _No_. I wasn't even going to come until Dan suggested we come together."

"You weren't going to come to my engagement party?" Nate asked, clearly upset at hearing this. "I thought we were friends Serena."

"Me too, Nate," she replied, her voice only slightly raised. "That's why I was hurt when I found out that Dan received an invitation while I didn't."

"Don't be stupid," Nate countered. "Of course you were invited. You were one of the first names I put on the list."

"Well, I'm still waiting on the invitation."

Nate then turned to look at Ellen. She had overseen the arrangements for the party, which included the guest list.

"I guess it got lost in the mail," and she just shrugged her shoulders as she grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and took a sip.

That's when everything clicked to Serena. Her invitation wasn't lost in the mail – Ellen made sure that she wasn't invited. She deliberately excluded her. This inflamed Serena. She and Nate had been friends forever – Ellen had no right.

From the other side of the room Blair could tell that her best friend was about to explode. She grabbed Chuck and whispered in his ear, "We need to stop whatever is going on over there." She pointed in the direction of Nate, Serena, Ellen, and Dan.

As they approached the group, Chuck calmly put an arm around both Serena and Ellen and shuttled them into the hallway with Blair, Nate, and Dan not far behind.

"Ladies," Chuck said in his suave way. "While I may love a public spectacle, I'm quite sure the two of you don't. So please, let's take your hot and bothered bodies away from the eyes of the drooling public and into a more private setting."

"Better yet," Ellen interjected. "Why doesn't Serena just leave? It's not like she was invited anyways."

Serena turned at Ellen's admission. "So you admit that you didn't invite me? That you did this on purpose?"

"Why the hell would I invite you to _my_ engagement party?" sneered Ellen.

"Excuse me," Nate cut in. "Don't you mean _our_ engagement party?"

"Whatever," and Ellen just blew Nate off before turning her attention back to Serena. "Every time you fly back into town, you always manage to somehow be all over Nate. Don't think I haven't noticed."

"Oh, please. Nate and I are friends. Right Nate?"

Nate looked a little shell-shocked by all the accusations being tossed around. He didn't understand how the situation had evolved into this.

"Yeah, right," he hesitated, unsure how to handle himself. He knew one wrong word would put him in the doghouse for a potentially very long time. "Serena and I have been friends forever. That's why I wanted her invited to _our_ engagement party." He stressed the word 'our' to make two important points: that this was a party for both him and her, and that he and Ellen were getting married, not he and Serena.

"Oh, okay. I see how it is," Ellen was embarrassed and angry, as she felt Nate was taking Serena's side over hers. She was his fiancé, not Serena. "Why don't we just invite her on our honeymoon too? I mean, we know she likes to watch. Maybe she wants some lessons."

"That was a mistake and I'm sorry," Serena apologized sincerely.

"And you expect me to just believe you?" Ellen took a deep breath as she challenged Serena, hoping to gain control of her emotions.

"Why would I lie about that?" Serena was angry at all the allegations that Ellen was flinging at her.

"Okay, I'm clearly missing something," Blair said aloud and then turned to Dan for an answer, "Well?"

"Hey, I'm just as lost as you are Blair," admitted Dan in a low voice.

The two of them then looked at Chuck who had a huge grin on his face while he stroked his chin and chuckled. He obviously had an idea of what had transpired between the other three but he wasn't saying a word.

Nate was trying to calm down Ellen by stepping between her and Serena and rubbing her arms up and down.

"Ellen, it was an honest mistake," reasoned Nate.

Instead of pacifying Ellen, Nate was actually riling her up more.

"Of course you take her side. I mean, why am I surprised," scoffed Ellen. "You're just as guilty as she is."

"Ellen, please," pleaded Nate as he grasped her hands.

The group was then brought to silence by the sound of a bell alerting them all that dinner was to be served.

Ellen took a deep breath to calm herself, shook her body out, and lifted her head with her perfectly happy fiancé face in place. She then grabbed Nate's hand and without a glance at the rest of the group she said, "Shall we?"

As Nate and Ellen proceeded into the dining room, Serena turned to Dan, "I'll meet you at our seats. I'll just be a minute."

That left Blair, Chuck, and Dan just as clueless as they were before. And they stayed that way for the rest of the night, as Serena, Nate, and Ellen acted as if nothing had happened at all.

XOXOXO

When Nate and Ellen returned to their apartment that night, Ellen was exhausted and went straight to bed. Nate stayed up for a bit and played some video games to unwind. Once dinner was served, the evening took a much better turn and he and Ellen had a great time, both soaking up the attention. He never got an opportunity to talk to Serena alone, so that he could explain that he would never deliberately exclude her from anything. He did, however, overhear a conversation she had with one of his mother's friends (who appeared to be friends with Lily as well), in which Serena said that she would most likely stay in Los Angeles after she finished her degree that Spring.

For some reason Nate couldn't get Serena's words out of his head. No amount of alcohol or killing of zombies seemed to help. Those words were haunting him.

Serena was staying in California.

Serena wasn't moving back to New York.

Nate knew it shouldn't bother him. After all, he was starting a life with Ellen. But he couldn't deny that it did. And deep down, he knew why. He had been waiting for Serena to come back home, come back to him, for years now.

It was this realization that propelled Nate to open the tab on his laptop that he had started filling out two months earlier. He checked it over and confirmed that all his information was correct. Then, with the click of a button, Nathaniel Archibald's transfer application for UCLA Law School was submitted. After that, he joined Ellen in their bed and went to sleep easily.

XOXOXO

Monday morning Ellen placed a call to an old sorority sister of hers on her way to work. Turns out she works in the publishing business. Ellen couldn't believe it, because she was just talking to a friend over the weekend that was looking for a publisher for a novel he had written. It was about an insider's view of life on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

XOXOXOXOXO

June 24th, 2021

Serena looked down at her own left hand and smiled. She didn't have a family heirloom on her finger. In fact, she didn't even have a diamond engagement ring. But that didn't matter. She didn't need that. Her wedding band was perfect for her: two rows of brilliant diamonds surrounding a row of vivid pink diamonds, set in platinum and rose gold.

"What are you grinning about?" Blair couldn't help but ask as she saw her best friend's glowing smile.

Serena laughed to herself. "Did I ever tell you the story about Nate and Ellen's engagement party?"

The two best friends then continued walking down the street as Serena divulged the events from that night six and a half years ago.

* * *

A/N: I must apologize to everyone who was disturbed by the Nellen smut. I couldn't resist – I just really love Nate! HeHe. Also, that's the 1st time I've really written a scene like that, so I hope it didn't repulse too many readers.

Many thanks to those of you who reviewed: RauhlPrincess, maryl, SnowedUnderNJ, JuhAlves, BikerChick101, annabelle12, scarlett2u, sydcasy, preettygabbysz, DeDe, ericaalynn, and Elise, as well as those who favorited and followed. You keep encouraging me to write more!


	5. Secrets

So sorry it's taken me a bit of time to update. I've been a bit consumed with the end of the show - the Chuck and Blair wedding (!), little Henry (adorable), the reveal of Dan as GG (really? everyone's okay with it?), and the complete lack of Serenate in the finale (why oh why?!) – as well as real-life (you know, husband, toddler, and job).

Anyways, here's the continuation of my story. I hope everyone enjoys it. This chapter is a bit different from the rest. It's a little Serena-lite (and I don't mean Lola – haha!), and it's told from Blair's memory.

* * *

Chapter 5: Secrets

June 24th, 2021

"I can't believe that you never told me about that," an exasperated Blair proclaimed, a little disappointed that she had missed out on this piece of gossip for so long. "But still, that was over six years ago. We've all moved on."

"Except Ellen," Serena quickly corrected her. "To her, its just one of the many things I've done in my life to wrong her." She then rolled her eyes when she continued to think about Ellen's issues and all that she's done since that night.

Blair just shook her head from side-to-side in disbelief as the hostess opened the door to the café for them.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Bass," she eagerly greeted Blair, hoping that the result would be a nice tip for her congeniality. "Table for two or will your husband also be joining you?"

"Just two. Thank you," Blair answered.

The hostess then led Blair and Serena past the dessert display, which definitely caught Blair's attention, to a tiny table in the corner near the window. She handed the ladies their menus and left the two besties to continue their conversation.

"I can't believe that nutjob is still complaining about all the things you've done to her - none of which are actually your fault might I add! She needs to take a long look in the mirror."

"I've given up even trying when it comes to her." Serena then put down her menu and leaned back in her chair. "Don't get me wrong, she infuriates me. But I'm resigned to the fact that she's never going to let it go. And I just want Nate to be happy. If I start a war with Ellen, it will just upset him."

"I can't believe that Nate is okay with her," huffed Blair. "God, I still remember the first time Nate told me about some of her craziness. We were having dinner at our place for Nate's birthday back in 2015!"

Blair then continued recounting the events of that day, nearly six years earlier.

XOXOXOXOXO

March 29th, 2015

Blair was sitting on the floor in Victor's nursery laughing as she watched Chuck play 'airplane' with their 5-month old son. Her baby boy's smile lit up the room and filled his parents' hearts with so much love. Both Chuck and Blair worked during the week, so they employed a nanny to help take care of Victor. But they vowed that Sunday was family day. Just the three of them. No office, no work, no nanny.

That's how at 4pm on this particular Sunday afternoon, Nate found Blair and Chuck closed off from the outside world in their son's luxurious nursery. For a couple of minutes he watched the Bass family as they enjoyed this precious time together. Then, when he felt as if he had spied on them for long enough, he knocked gently on the door to let them know that he was there.

Immediately, Blair and Chuck turned to the door, both surprised by the interruption.

"Nathaniel," Chuck said as he gestured for his best friend to enter their sanctuary as he held Victor in his lap.

"I hope you don't mind, but I told Alan that it would be okay for me to come upstairs unannounced."

"Not at all," Chuck replied as he handed the baby to Blair and stood to greet his friend properly. "What brings you by?"

Blair then jumped into the conversation. "Yeah, why are you here so early? Dinner isn't going to be ready until 6:30pm."

"Well, it's about dinner actually," Nate said nervously, because he knew that messing with Blair Bass's plans was never a good thing.

"Don't tell me you and your _lovely_ fiancée are cancelling on us," Blair huffed, with a heavy dose of sarcasm placed on the word 'lovely'. She then hugged Victor to her chest, "We've even arranged for Shawn to be here in an hour to take care of Victor for the evening."

"No, no, no," Nate exclaimed as he held both hands up. "I'm not cancelling on dinner. In fact, I was wondering if, per chance, you wouldn't mind if I joined the two of you, well the three of you, for dinner for the rest of week. Maybe longer."

"You need a place to crash?" inquired a slightly concerned Chuck. He knew Nate didn't want to join them for just a meal, which meant something else was happening with him.

"Yeah, I kind of do."

"No problem. Of course you can stay with us Nathaniel," Chuck reassured his friend. "I'll get Alan to make sure your usual room is ready for you."

Blair, however, took a slightly less tender approach.

"Okay Archibald, spill," she demanded.

"_Blair_," Chuck drawled as he gave his wife that look. The one that told her to calm down and play nice. "Why don't we let Nate get his things and settle into his room before we interrogate him?"

"Nah, its fine man," Nate remarked. He knew that Blair would be full of questions, so he was prepared for this. Pretending like it was no big deal, Nate then said, "Ellen and I split up."

"WHAT?!" Blair screeched as she stood with Victor in her arms.

"I know that puts a kink into your dinner plans. Sorry about that, but it will only be the three of us tonight," a very nonchalant Nate apologized before turning back to Chuck. "I think that Alan may have already put my things into my normal room, since he took my suitcases in that direction when I arrived."

Nate knew he would have to tell them the truth. They were his best friends and he knew they would be understanding, support him no matter what. But he also needed a little longer to digest everything, to find the words to explain what had happened between him and Ellen. So he was going to act like he was okay until he was ready to talk.

"I guess he knows you're part of the family," Chuck joked as he patted his buddy on the back and signaled for the two of them to leave the room. The two gentlemen started walking down the hallway, leaving Blair in the nursery with baby Victor but knowing that she would be only steps behind them.

"Not so fast, you two!" Blair yelled as loudly as she could without upsetting her son. She then followed the men out of the room with Victor on her hip, "I want details Nate! And I will not be denied!"

XOXOXOXOXO

A few hours later, the three best friends were sitting comfortably on the sofas in the living room. That was after Nate had had a nap, shower, and a little time by himself. After Blair and Chuck spent another hour with their boy before relinquishing him to his nanny Shawn and dressing themselves for dinner. After enjoying the exquisite five-course meal that the Basses' chef had prepared in honor of Nate's 24th birthday.

Now, as they sat there with their drinks in hand (Scotch for the gents and a cup of Chamomile tea for Blair), Nate felt relaxed and completely at ease. He knew it was time to talk.

"So, I'm sure you are both wondering what happened," he started and he took a swig of his Scotch.

Blair instantly jumped at the opening, straightening her back in fervor. She then felt Chuck's hand come to rest on her knee and he gave it a little squeeze. Blair took that as a sign that her husband wanted to take the lead on this, they were a team after all. Earlier on, Chuck had firmly, but politely, requested that she let Nate be and to not push him about what had transpired between himself and Ellen.

"Only if you want to tell us," was Chuck's reply. He felt, rather than saw, Blair's shocked reaction to his words so he slowly moved his hand up and he began massaging Blair's thigh to restrain her.

"I don't know," pondered Nate. "Part of me thinks it's for the best if I keep this private, but at the same time I really want to talk to you guys about this. Make sure I haven't made a huge mistake."

While Nate spoke, Blair was finding it harder and harder to keep quiet. She grasped Chuck's hand tightly to let him know her frustration and that she was about to burst if she didn't speak soon. Chuck knew that she wouldn't be able to contain her innerBlair much longer, so he returned the grasp, rubbed her thigh once more, and then removed his hand from her leg and draped it around her shoulders. This all but told Blair 'Go ahead, your turn'.

"Nate," Blair exhaled. "You know you can tell Chuck and I anything. You can trust us not to say a word. To anyone."

"You're right Blair," Nate conceded.

"Of course I am." Blair had to hide the huge smile that was tempted to spread across her face at getting her way. Chuck continued to caress her shoulder as a reminder that she should not look happy about this, but Blair pressed on. "So, what happened?"

"Well, I guess you could say that I've been having doubts for a while now."

Blair uncrossed her legs and recrossed them to get more comfortable while still looking at Nate. Then she asked, "How long is a while?"

Nate put down his Scotch and began playing with his hands, avoiding eye contact with Blair as he spoke, "Since my birthday party last year."

"Nate!" squawked Blair, shocked to just be hearing now that her friend was having doubts about his future marriage. "That's an entire year. And only a day after you had gotten engaged."

Upon hearing Nate's admission, Chuck removed his arm from around Blair and leaned forward placing his elbows on his knees. He had a feeling something was going on inside of Nate's head since they all visited Serena in LA and now he knew he was right.

"Nathaniel, does this have anything to do with Serena and her surprise visit to your birthday party?"

"Yeah, it kinda does," and Nate covered his face with his hands as he fell back into the cushions of the plush sofa.

"Oh my God!" bellowed Blair. "Did you two hook up? Is that why she took off so quickly?" At this, all Chuck could do was shake his head from side-to-side in disbelief at his wife and her mouth sometimes.

"What?! NO!" A riled Nate quickly shot up and countered, "I can't believe you would think that Blair. Of me or of Serena. Don't you know us better than that?"

"Of course I know you two and I know your history." At seeing Nate's appalled expression, Blair apologized. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Still, how does Serena factor into this?"

"Well, I was pretty drunk at the time, so I'm not sure if she really said it or if it was just something I imagined because its what I wanted to hear. Regardless, it was enough to put the seedlings of doubt into my mind."

"But Nate, you continued with the engagement for a whole year. You were supposed to be getting married three months from now."

"I know Blair, you don't need to remind me," hissed Nate. He knew Blair had a point, but these were his friends, they were supposed to support him, not question him.

Chuck, seeing his friend getting upset, decided to take a more cautious approach and try smooth the waters.

"Hey, no one is mad at you here. I think Blair is just trying to comprehend why you went ahead with all the wedding plans if you weren't sure. Or maybe she is trying to understand why you didn't think you could come to us sooner."

"Honestly, you two aren't always the easiest people to talk to about this kind of stuff. You are lucky enough to have found your perfect match and your relationship is pretty much that, perfect." As Nate said this Blair leaned her body into Chuck's and she felt him kiss the crown of her head. "I don't think most marriages are like yours. I think what you have is really rare."

Then Nate admitted the truth, "And I figured that the doubts I was having were natural. Something that everyone feels when they think about getting married and the rest of their life."

Blair's heart went out to her dear friend, so she leaned forward and clasped his hand in hers. She wanted to extend her support to Nate, and the gesture was also her way of apology for her harsh words earlier.

"So what happened to change things now? Why after all this time to you decide to break things off with Ellen?"

"Well, things were going great between us, or at least I thought they were, until our engagement party. That's when I found out that she went behind my back and didn't invite Serena to the party even though she was one of the top people on my list. And the argument between the three of us brought out a side of Ellen that I hadn't seen before."

"Yeah, not an evening any of us can easily forget," Chuck chortled at the memory and Blair playfully slapped his arm at his lack of tact. Chuck pulled back and faked pain in response to Blair's actions. This garnered a real laugh out of Nate for the first time since their conversation had started.

"Sorry, Nate. My husband is hard to control sometimes." Chuck just rolled his eyes at his wife's dramatics.

"Are you kidding? Seeing you two like this makes me believe I made the right decision. I can't remember the last time I was that comfortable with Ellen. Ever since that party Ellen's been a different person."

"In her defense, she has been planning a wedding. That's no easy feat." Blair added.

"I know, but it's more than that." Nate then stood up and began pacing back and forth. Chuck knew this meant his friend was really bothered by something. That he had something big to reveal and he was trying to figure out how to best do it.

"You guys know that Dan's tell-all book about our lives is finally going to be published, right?"

All four of them knew about Dan's book. When Dan finalized the book deal, he did the honorable thing and told Nate, Blair, Chuck, and Serena about it ahead of time. In the past few years, they had all managed to achieve a functioning 'friendship'. Maybe they wouldn't be the best of friends, but Serena, Dan, Chuck, and Blair were all family now so they learned to co-exist.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Blair grumbled while Chuck just smirked. "Our lawyers have been in contact with the publishers so we've seen an advanced copy. We were going to sue them for invasion of privacy, libel, and defamation of character, but instead we just made him remove some of the passages that we deemed were too scandalous for the public consumption."

"It turns out that Ellen is the reason Dan's book is getting published at all."

"Okay, start over and tell us everything," insisted Blair, who was now visibly aggravated. The subject of Dan's book did that to her.

"Last month Ellen and I were out to dinner when we saw Scarlett Young. You might remember her Blair, she was an old sorority sister of Ellen's from Columbia." Blair shook her head in recognition because she remembered Scarlett from her attempts to get into Hamilton House. Nate then continued, "Anyways, Scarlett came over to our table and was flooding Ellen with gratitude for telling her about Dan's book and sending her his contact information. Turns out that Scarlett works at the publishing company which is going to put Dan's out."

"So you're telling me that we have Ellen to thank for all of this?" Chuck chimed in. The only aspects of Dan's book that bothered him were the negative images it gave of Blair. He knew that a lot of his early business was fueled by his bad boy image, but Blair's public life was different and she wanted to keep it that way. Of course, Chuck just wanted to see Blair happy, so he put their lawyers on the case.

"Yeah, what exactly does she gain from it being published?" raised Blair. Then she pointed out, "It's not like Dan paints you in the best light."

"I wondered the same exact thing. When I asked her she said that she was trying to help a friend of mine. She told me that she and Dan talked about it at the engagement party."

"So, the same night that she flipped out about you and Serena?" Blair argued. She was starting to connect the dots.

"Well," Chuck interjected. "I've read Dan's novel and Serena does not come across as an angel in it, to put it kindly. So if Ellen was trying to take aim at Serena, this is one way to go about it."

"I guess that could be part of her reason. I don't really know what to think about her anymore. I'd like to think that Ellen is a good person who was helping a friend, but..."

"But what Nate?" Blair snapped.

"I was willing to let that go because I believed what she told me, but recent events are making me question everything about her, especially her honesty."

"Are you telling me there's more?"

"Don't worry, it doesn't affect you guys at all," Nate reassured both Blair and Chuck and he sat back down. However his friends were still visibly worried and he appreciated the sentiment – he knew Chuck and Blair would always have his back.

"But," Nate snorted, "maybe this all does come back to Serena? I can't believe I've been so stupid."

"Nathaniel, we can't read minds so you have to give us more than that." Usually Chuck just let things roll, but if Ellen really did have it out for his sister, he wanted to know.

"It all started this past Friday. You know, my birthday." Both Blair and Chuck nodded indicating that they were following his story. "Well, Serena usually texts or emails me 'Happy Birthday' at midnight, but when I woke up there was nothing. I figured that she was busy with school because this was her last semester and she just forgot. But in between classes I got a text from her with a picture of her new puppy in which she said she meant to send it through with her earlier email."

"So Ellen deleted Serena's email before you could see it?" Blair pondered out loud, jumping to conclusions.

"Yes, but I didn't know that then. I just thought there was some glitch with my email."

Nate knew he was about to confess to doing something that he had not told a soul. Not Ellen. Not even Chuck. It was something private, something that was unsure about until this morning. And he knew that once he made his confession, there would be no going back. At least not as far as Blair is concerned. She would never let him live this down.

"So Ellen has a bit of jealous streak," Chuck tried to introduce reason into the conversation. He sensed there was more to it. "I highly doubt you broke off your engagement because of that."

"Not exactly. So I'm about to tell you guys something but you have to promise to keep it to yourselves. No one else can know. Especially Serena."

"Why?" Blair questioned Nate. "I tell Serena everything."

"Oh really?" Chuck raised an eyebrow at his wife as his attention was peaked.

As Blair turned to look at Chuck in disgust and she swatted his arm. Nate couldn't help but laugh at his friends antics again.

"Ugh, you are insufferable sometimes," and Blair rolled her eyes at her smirking husband. Then she turned her attention back to Nate because she really wanted to hear the rest of what he had to say, particularly now that Serena was involved. "We promise not to say a word to Serena, as long as you promise that she won't get hurt."

"I can promise you that this won't hurt Serena."

"Good. Now please continue," Blair ordered Nate as if he was a minion.

"Okay," and Nate took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing_ he thought. "I've been thinking about transferring to another school and in December I submitted my application."

Nate braced himself for the onset questions he expected to come. Instead, he was met with confused looks.

"I don't get it Nate," Blair was trying to understand why Nate would want to transfer. "You're going to Columbia. That's one of the best law schools in the country. Where else could you possibly want to go? And please don't say NYU – eww."

All of a sudden, everything just clicked for Chuck. A huge smile spread across Chuck's face and he blurted out, "UCLA."

"Huh?" Blair uttered, and she looked between Chuck and Nate with a classic Natefused look on her face.

Chuck wasn't listening to Blair, he leaned back on the sofa, clasped his hands behind his head, and just continued talking to Nate. "Now it all makes sense. Why you wanted to visit the UCLA campus when we were out in LA."

"Yeah. I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't sure."

"Wait a second," Blair held up her hands to pause the conversation so she could catch up. First she turned to Chuck, "I can't believe you knew about this and never said a word to me." Then she whipped her head to face Nate, "And you, why the hell would you want to transfer to UCLA?"

"Really, Blair," Nate deadpanned. He couldn't believe that Blair Bass hadn't put all the pieces together.

When it all finally dawned on Blair, she shrieked, "OH MY GOD! Serena!"

"Finally," Chuck playfully sighed and he mockingly patted her on the head.

Blair started bouncing in her spot on the sofa and clapped her hands together a few times.

"This is the best news! I always thought you two would be perfect together."

"Slow down there Blair," Nate cautioned her. "Serena and I are _just_ friends."

But the look on Nate's face as he said 'friends' gave it all away to Chuck and Blair. Other people may not catch on, but Chuck and Blair are not other people and they do not miss a beat.

"Uh huh, sure. Whatever you say," teased Blair. She was still shining with the prospect of her two best friends together. But then she came back to the present and she had more questions for Nate. "Uhm, Nate?"

"Yeah?"

"If you have any feelings at all for Serena, I completely understand why you would call off your engagement. But what happened on Friday to make you do it now instead of a while ago? You said you sent in your application in December?"

"HaHa," Nate chuckled. "I guess I never finished because we got distracted. Well, I thought there was something wrong with my email because I never got Serena's message and I started to wonder if that is why I hadn't heard anything from UCLA. Like maybe there was a glitch with my emails coming from LA."

"Oh, Nathaniel," and Chuck just shook his head from side-to-side. Sometimes Nate could be so dense. "Email doesn't work that way."

"Thanks, Chuck. I know that," and Nate just rolled his eyes at his friend. "Anyways, I decided to contact the Admissions office at UCLA about the status of my application. Turns out I had sent them a nice message declining my acceptance."

"What?!" an incensed Blair spouted.

"I know!" agreed Nate. "That's exactly what I said. Here – I'll show you. They sent it back to me."

Nate then pulled out his phone and scrolled through his emails to show Blair and Chuck the message. Blair grabbed his phone so she could read the entire message. Her jaw dropped as she read it.

"Why would someone do this? Who had access to your email account?" Blair grilled Nate and look for Chuck for his expert opinion. He just shrugged his shoulders because he didn't know, even though he had a clue.

"I immediately thought it was Grandfather because he's never wanted me to go to California," Nate revealed. "And since Ellen and I were staying at the Vanderbilt compound for the weekend, I confronted him about it after dinner on Friday night. He had no idea what I was talking about. It wasn't until yesterday morning that I figured it out."

Both Blair and Chuck had their full attention focused on Nate at the moment. Nate leaned forward, with his weight on his knees and continued, "When I walked back into my room after my shower I caught Ellen going through my messages on my phone. That's when I realized that she must have done it."

"Bitch," Blair murmured just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Yeah," Nate agreed. "As you can imagine, it led to a giant fight. Ellen went absolutely crazy - she made 'Engagement Party Ellen' look sweet. I realized there was no way in hell I could marry her, so I ended it."

Nate stood up again and resumed his pacing.

"She left yesterday afternoon and I haven't seen her since. I only went by the apartment this afternoon when the doorman confirmed that she wasn't there. Of course she's been bombarding me with texts and calls, but I refuse to talk to her. It's over."

Chuck let out a low whistle and Blair released a barely audible "Wow".

Nate then all of sudden plopped down on the sofa. But he didn't sit. He laid down instead.

"So tell me what you really think? I did the right thing, didn't I?" Nate rolled his head to the side and looked to his best friends for reassurance.

"Absolutely," Blair confidently said. "I can't get over all the sneaky, underhanded things Ellen has done. You definitely shouldn't marry her."

"I agree with Blair," added Chuck as he got up to refill both his and Nate's glasses. "And not just because of what Ellen has done. But because you were having doubts independent of knowing all that. A marriage can never work if you have doubts, especially if you are still in love with someone else. Just look how well Blair's marriage to the frog worked out."

Chuck raised his glass to Blair in mock congratulations while she simply shook her head in fake annoyance. She was already plotting her revenge for later that night.

"Thanks guys. My family wasn't very thrilled when I told them. They like Ellen but they really loved the idea that I was marrying into another 'old money' family."

"So," Chuck decided to turn the conversation back to an earlier topic. "What about UCLA?"

"Ooooh, yes!" and Blair clapped her hands together loudly. "Not that I want you to move, but if it means you and Serena will be together, I'm all for it."

"_Blairrr_," Chuck muttered as he tried to rein his wife in. He knew this was her dream - Serena and Nate were her OTP - but he also knew this was a delicate matter. Especially since none of them knew how Serena truly felt about Nate. Not even Blair.

"You promised you wouldn't say a word!" asserted Nate in a strong voice and Blair pretended to zip her lips shut. "As for your question Chuck, I woke up this morning and decided I'm going. I'll move to Los Angeles after my summer internship."

"This is sooo exciting," Blair couldn't contain her excitement.

"You know, I'm pretty excited too." The relief and enthusiasm was written all over Nate's face. "Now I just have to figure out how I am going to woo Serena."

Nate immediately saw Blair's mind start churning, so he had to shut her down. "No Blair, I do not need any help. Thank you very much." With a pout, she folded her arms across her chest like a child.

Chuck decided it was time to shift the topic of conversation again. "Have you thought about where you'll live in Los Angeles? Because I've got a yacht docked there that could be a very nice birthday gift."

XOXOXOXOXO

While all this was going down in New York with Nate and Ellen, Serena had decided to make some tiny changes to her life in Los Angeles. On the Monday of that week, she allowed herself to have a little pity party when she received her formal invitation to Nate's wedding in the mail. The same day her mother told her that Dan and Liz had finally gotten engaged over the weekend. That night, Blair had sent through a photo of Victor laying on Chuck's chest, both of them sleeping on the couch. On Tuesday she skyped with Eric and got all the details about his new boyfriend who was a fellow medical student at Cornell. He even told her that Jenny was apparently dating some up-and-coming rockstar. It dawned on Serena that she was lonely and she missed her friends and family.

In an effort to cheer herself up, she decided to get a puppy. Serena named the cute, fluffy ball of fur Penny and she immediately thought that she needed to send Nate a picture. So at midnight on Nate's 24th birthday Serena snapped a picture of herself and Penny together with the purpose of emailing it to Nate. However, when she finished writing her email (it was much longer than she had planned) she hit send before attaching the photo. It wasn't until the following morning that she realized her mistake, so she texted it to him instead.

The next week Serena was bogged down with classes so she avoided Blair's phone calls with every intention that she would call her on the weekend. Hence, Serena was shocked when she read on the cover of a gossip mag in the checkout at the grocery. It was about the break-up of the 'Vanderbilt heir' and the 'Tate family sweetheart' because he was having a secret affair with his ex-girlfriend, the former princess of Monaco and the current wife of billionaire Chuck Bass. There were even photos of Nate and Blair embracing, Nate and Ellen in an apparent argument, Chuck shouting angrily at his phone, and Nate through the window of the Basses' townhouse in his boxers and t-shirt. Without a second thought, Serena left her groceries in the basket and walked out of the store while hitting Blair's number on her phone.

XOXOXOXOXO

June 24th, 2021

"Oh my God, did Nate really say he was going to '_woo'_ me?" Serena couldn't contain the childish giggle that erupted from her as she spoke, thinking of Nate telling Chuck and Blair that he was going to woo her.

"Serena, I couldn't make that up if I tried." Blair started chuckling right along with her best friend because while it was really sweet, it was also pretty funny. That, and Serena's laugh was infectious.

"Ahh," Serena snorted. "You've just got to love the things that Nate comes up with sometimes."

"No, I don't," Blair challenged. "But you do. You're the one who's married to him."

And all Serena could do was smile because it was truth. She was Mrs. Nathaniel Archibald.

* * *

A/N: So, Serena and Nate are married and Nellen is officially over. Are you all as upset about the demise of that relationship as I am? I hope you aren't too disappointed and stop reading. HeHe.

Many thanks to those of you who reviewed: sydcasy, Danneis, annabelle12, RauhlPrincess, JuhAlves, SNlove, scarlett2u, SnowedUnderNJ, ita, ericaalynn, BikerChick101, DeDe, and Lily, as well as those who favorited and followed. You keep encouraging me to write more!


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